Katherine Frey, sister of former boxer Gilliam McLane, and Bobby Soileau pose at the first Louisiana High School Boxing Association Hall of Fame induction ceremony.

Written by

Bobby Ardoin
Special to the Daily World

Those nights when large crowds packed tiny gyms across St. Landry and Evangeline parishes to witness high school boxing are gone now, their memories resting neatly inside personal scrapbooks.

It's been 55 years since the last punches were thrown by fighters from Opelousas High, St. Edmund, Mamou, Vidrine and other Acadiana-area schools, but for a few hours Sunday, the lights in the ring returned to the minds of those who once competed between the ropes.

The newly-formed Louisiana High School Boxing Association Hall of Fame inaugural reunion recognized 33 former high school boxing ...